Darkspear
Raptor mounts ( and ) | races = }} The Darkspear tribe (aka Darkspear clan) are a tribe of jungle trolls. Members of the tribe belong to the Darkspear Trolls faction of the Horde. Introduction During Thrall’s exodus from Lordaeron, the Horde rescued the Darkspear tribe of jungle trolls from the mysterious Sea Witch. The Darkspear tribe owed Thrall and the orcs a great debt and so allied themselves with the Horde in gratitude. Their relationship with the noble orcs and tauren has begun to change the Darkspear trolls’ savage natures. Darkspear trolls, however, deny their dark legacy. The Horde has taught them camaraderie, restraint and, to a lesser extent, kindness. History As tribal rivalries erupted throughout the former Gurubashi Empire, the Darkspear tribe found themselves driven from their homeland in Stranglethorn Vale. Having settled in what are believed today to be the Broken Isles, the tribe soon found themselves entangled in a conflict with a band of murlocs. Their fate seemed sealed until the orcish Warchief Thrall and his band of newly freed orcs took shelter on their island home. Controlled by a Sea Witch, a group of rampaging murlocs captured the Darkspears' leader Sen'jin, along with Thrall and several other orcs and trolls. Thrall managed to free himself and others, but was ultimately unable to save the trolls' leader. Although Sen'jin was sacrificed to the Sea Witch, he was able to reveal a vision he had in which Thrall would lead the Darkspear from the island. After returning to the island, Thrall and his followers managed to fend off further attacks by the Sea Witch and her murloc minions, and set sail for Kalimdor once again. Under the new leadership of Vol'jin, the Darkspear swore allegiance to Thrall's Horde and followed him to Kalimdor. Now considered enemies by all other trolls except the Revantusk and the Zandalari, the Darkspear are held in contempt to this day. Yet, the Darkspear have not forgotten being driven from their ancestral homes and this animosity is eagerly returned, especially towards the other jungle trolls. Having reached the orc's new homeland, Durotar, the trolls carved out another home for themselves — this time among the Echo Isles on the eastern shores of the new orc kingdom. However, with the coming of Kul Tiras and its navy, the Darkspear were forced to retreat inland under the onslaught of the misguided commander Daelin Proudmoore. The trolls, fighting alongside their Horde brethren, defeated the enemy and reclaimed their new homeland. Shortly thereafter, a witch doctor by the name of Zalazane began using dark magic to take the minds of his fellow Darkspear. As his army of mindless followers grew, Vol'jin ordered the free trolls to evacuate, and Zalazane took control of the Echo Isles. The Darkspear have since settled on the nearby shore, naming their new village after their old leader, Sen'jin. From Sen'jin Village they, along with their allies, send forces to battle Zalazane and his enslaved army.http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/story/troll/jungletribes.html#darkspear Notable Darkspears * Shadow Hunter Vol'jin: Leader of the Darkspear tribe, successor to Sen'jin, ally to Thrall. * Witch Doctor Sen'jin: Former leader of the Darkspear tribe, killed while defending the Broken Isles from invasion. Vol'jin's father. * Shadow Hunter Rokhan: Lead scout of the Darkspear tribe and the Horde. Expert in many areas of troll society. * Master Gadrin: Trusted advisor to Vol'jin. Mystic guide of the Darkpear tribe formerly along with Zalazane. * Zalazane: Deranged rebel leader of the troll rebels inhabiting the Echo Isles. He is a former pupil of Master Gadrin. * Master Vornal - A prominent figure in the Darkspear tribe. * Zilzibin Drumlore - Darkspear tribe historian and ecologist. As a scholar he is an expert in many mysterious aspects of troll history, and has studied the native life of Kalimdor, making him a valuable resource of knowledge about the Insectoids. Darkspear trolls One tribe of jungle trolls was forced to overcome its prejudices when it encountered the orc Warchief Thrall, and his mighty Horde. The trolls of the Darkspear tribe, long since exiled from their ancestral lands in Stranglethorn Vale, were nearly destroyed by a band of aquatic murlocs, but Thrall and the Horde managed to save them. In return the grateful trolls swore an oath of eternal allegiance to the Horde. Led by the cunning Shadow Hunter, Vol'jin, the Darkspear trolls now make their home in Durotar along with their orcish allies. Their village, named after their fallen tribal elder Sen'jin, lies along the eastern coast of the harsh, rocky land. The Darkspear tribe also occupies tracks within the nearby jungles of the Echo Isles. As part of the Horde, the trolls have extended their loyalty to the mighty Tauren, but they have little trust for the manipulative undead, whom they believe will visit only misery and strife upon their allies. It is not explicitly known what they think of the blood elves, but since the elves are addicted to and freely practice demonic magic, it is likely that the trolls do not think much higher of them than they do of the Forsaken. Island Trolls Island Trolls was the name, which later was retconned to Darkspear tribe, given to a group of trolls in the Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos demo.http://www.blizzard.com/war3/demo/ The missions involving them were not included in the retail release; however, they did reappear in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne as a custom mission. They were forced out of Stranglethorn Vale due to conflicts with the other troll tribes in the area, and had settled on a "lone island" amongst the Darkspear islands near the Maelstrom. Thrall helped save the tribe from murloc attacks and the Sea Witch — during which Sen'jin was killed. Sen'jin was granted a vision which showed that Thrall would lead the Island Trolls off the island and escape certain death. Appearance Darkspear trolls have skin colors that range from pale, ghostly blue to bruised purple to sickly green. Their skin color is usually just one of those three colors, although sometimes there are trolls with mixed skin pigments but this is not so popular. Male trolls are hunched over and have long, protruding tusks that grow from under their upper lip. Male trolls also have rather large noses and very messy, matted hair. Female trolls, on the other hand, stand up straight and erect, have rather small or squashed-in noses, and usually have hair in a wild updo or strewn across their breasts in thick braids. Darkspear troll cities and outposts * Capital city: Orgrimmar in Durotar (shared with the orcs), by way of a small, former capital in the Echo Isles. * Sen'jin Village in Durotar. * Shadowprey Village in Desolace. * Malaka'jin in Stonetalon Mountains. * Zoram'gar Outpost in Ashenvale. * Zabra'jin in Zangarmarsh. * Swamprat Post in Zangarmarsh. Classes Troll characters can play as a priest, rogue, warrior, mage, hunter, death knight, druid or shaman. *Barbarian *Berserker *Potion doc *Primal *Hexer *Shadow hunter *Wilderness stalker *Witch doctor Trivia * Darkspear trolls are often found in the company of reptiles. Their mount are raptors, they sell snakes as pets, and their shadow hunters summon cobras. According to Seer Janidi in Zabra'jin (who gives the quest ), the Darkspear consider the serpent to be a powerful spirit, but they disdain bird spirits as "weak, capricious, and best left to the Amani". * According to WarcraftRealms, trolls are the least played race in WoW.http://www.warcraftrealms.com/census.php *Not all trolls have tusks (although this may be a model limitation).http://battle.net/war3/orc/units/trollbatrider.shtml *When approached or attacked by members of the Alliance, both orc and troll NPCs say: "Orcish: Grunts! Attack!"; causing additional guards for that town or city to summon in the aid of that NPC. Troll and orc NPCs are the only two races that share a common language when making such calls-to-arms, reflecting their close loyalty and friendship. *The Darkspear troll dance comes from a Brazilian martial art, Capoeira. *Troll warriors, when created, are equipped with a thrown axe, making them the only warrior race to have a ranged skill when created. *One of the random jokes that players of the troll race can say is "New troll here", which is an allusion to Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness. Whenever a troll axethrower or troll berserker was created, they would say "New troll here!" Notes *Trolls are the only playable faction that does not seem to have a standing capital. See also * Darkspear trolls controversy * Troll technology References External links